Potato-loader.



PATENTED JULY 25, 1905:

0 H. WALKER. POTATO LOADER. APPLE CAT-ION FILED D20. 3, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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APPLIOATIOLJ FILED i a i i n n r i. in. ii iii ll 7 el Ed A to Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 25, 1505.

Application filed December 3, 1904. Serial No. 235,380.

.lorm or type of potato-digger for loading the tubers into a wagon or other receptacle, there by obviating any intermediate or subsequent 1am n or us )UI')OS ,.1G oaun a"- l lh l ti 0 'llll t taclunent or elevatm is of such construction as to rid of allearth and other foreign matter that may hecoinedetached from the potatoes during tneir passage from the digger into the wagon or receptacle.

The primary object of thcinvention is to materially lessen the cost of harvesting potatoes and like tubers and to provide a niccl anisrn which will operate effectively in connection with any kind of digging machinery and which will be of light draft and easy of management, so as not to require additional help.

For a full description of the invention and the merits thereof and also to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction of the means for eli'ecting the result, reference is to he had to the following description and accompanying drawings.

lVhil-e the invention may be adapted to diffcrent forms and conditions by changes in the structure and minor details without departing from the spirit or essential features thereof, still the preferred embodiment thereof is shown in the accompanying drawings, in

winch- Figure l is a perspective view of a loader cmho lying the invention. Fig. 2 isa central longitudinal section of the loader, on a larger scale, showing the chute elevated and the wagon or roccptc -lc tilted.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in both views of the drawings by the same refcrence characters.

The loader is adapted to be coupled to any type of digger, so as to receive the potatoes or-tubers therefrom, and is arranged to deliver the potatoes into a receptacle 1 of any construction and suitably arranged to receive the tubers from the elevating meclumism. As shown in the drawings, the receptacle 1 cons of a wagon-body tiltiugly mounted upon a truck .2 and provided at -its rear end with a gate 3 to admit of the potatoes being discharged into a measure, basket, or the like when the part l is tilted, as indicated in Fig. 2. The truck 52 may he of any make or design and is hitched to the loader so as to move therewith overthc lieldf r 'lhe-loadi lr is mounted upon front wheels "i: and rear wheels 5, the latter constituting drivers from which power is delivered for opera/Lim the moving parts of the elevator chute. The elevator 6 is upwardly and rearwardly inclined and is supported at front end upon the axle connecting the wheels at and atitsrear end upon standards 7., mounted upon the rear axle 8, provided with the drivewheels Reaches 9 connect the lower portion of the elevator with the lower ends of the standards 7 and support a platform 10, upon which the attendant may stand when the machine is in operation. The elevator con).- prises a slatted bottom ll, side pieces l2, and an endless carrier l3, the latter consisting of side chains and lags or cross-pie es. The slats are. separated by spacers i l, which are oi wed form, the taper being" on the 'upp side, as indicated most clearly in Fig. 2, to p avent obiects dropping between the slats and moved over the slatted bottom catchingoh the cross bars 1%, connecting the said ldlcrs 15 are journaled to the inner lacesfof the side pieces 12 and support the chains of the endless carrier 13. The lower end of the endless carrier 13 is supported upon sprocketwheels .1", loosely mounted upon tl axle 17, provided with toe front wheels l, and is sup ported at its upper end by means of correspending sprocketwhee fast with a transverse shaft 19, journaled bearings at the upper end of the elevator-frame. The power for operating the elevator is applied to the shaft 19 and is derived from the drivewheels 5, the means for transmitting he power being of any typethat may be determined upon, according to the cost and construction of the machine.

A chute 20 is provided at the delivery end of the elevator and is of cylindrical form and is mounted to have rotary movement imparted thereto to insure thorough cleaning of the potatoes or. tubers before delivery into the receptacle l. The rotation of the chute '20 lm parts a tumbling movement to the potatoes, whereby any earth or other matter adhering thereto is loosened and detached and lina'lly escapes through the openings or .1 in the lower run of the endless carrier coming in Having thus described the invention, what means for varying the inclination of the chute.

shaft 40 in one direction or the other. When it is required to dump the tubers from the reciptacle 1, the chute is elevated and the reeept-acle 1 tilted, substantially as indicated in Fig. 2. To prevent the upper portion of the contact'with the lower side of the upper portion of the chute, the chains pass over guidepulleys 57 attached to the standards 7 near their upper ends.

is claimed as new is 1. In combination, an elevator, a deliverychute pivoted thereto, a pivoted arch, connecting means between said arch and chute, a counterbalance applied to said arch, and

nected to the elevator frame, a third archpivoted to the elevator-frame at a point between" the aforesaid arches, connecting means between the pivoted arch and the archat the rear end of the chute, a counterbalance between said pivoted arch and the rigid arch of the elevator, andadjusting means coiiperating with the pivoted arch for varying the in-.

clination of the chute.

4. In combination, an elevator, a pivoted frame, a rotary chute journaled at one end to a cross-bar of said frame, an arch at the opposite end of the pivoted frame pivotally mounted upon theelevator-frame in line with the axis of said pivoted frame, a hanger pendent from said arch and provided at its lower end witha bearing to form a journal for the opposite end of the chute, a counterbalance for the chute, and adjusting means between the chute and elevatoiwframe.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES HOWARD WAIiKER. [L 8.]

Witnesses:

T. L. RINGHAM, FRANK Fonens. 

